Elias Balaras is Professor at the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at the George Washington University. Dr. Balaras received his Ph.D. from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (EPFL) in Lausanne, Switzerland in 1995. He was formerly a visiting scientist at the National Institute for Standards and Technology and on the Faculty at the University of Maryland. He has been on the Faculty at the George Washington University since January 2011. Dr Balaras's current research program aims at the development of robust numerical techniques for parallel, large-scale simulations of multiscale, multiphysics problems in physical and biological systems. Emphasis is given at large-eddy and direct numerical simulations, fluid-structure interactions and biological fluid dynamics. He has been the recipient of several awards including the Marie-Curie fellowship from the European Commission in 1994 and the CAREER award from the National Science Foundation in 2003. Dr. Balaras has published over 80 papers in refereed journals and conference proceedings, and served as reviewer for numerous journals and government programs related to fluid mechanics, biological flows, high performance computing and turbulence. Recently his research has been featured in the New York Times and the Sunday Times.